Machine for rounding and channeling soles



Jan. 7,1936. J. B. HADAWAY V MACHINE FOR ROUNDING AND CHANNELING SOLES Filed May 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1936- 'J. B. HADAWAY I MACHINE FOR ROUNDING AND CHANNELING SOLES Filed May 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 7, 1936 PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR ROUNDING AND CHANNELING SOLES John B. Hadaway, Swampscott,.Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application May 22, 1933, Serial No. 672,169

20 Claims.

. to round and channel the outsole of a shoe after the sole has been temporarily secured in place preparatory to being permanently stitched to the shoe.

In one aspect, the present invention consists in improvements in rounding and channeling machinesof' the type disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,036,606, granted June 25, 1912 on an application of F. H. Perry, and from this standpoint the invention is designed to increase the held of use of such machines and render them a channeling machine utilizing a single channel knife, and so organized and equipped as to have the capacity for cutting channels of varying width.

In the channeling of soles after they have been 7 temporarily secured to the bottoms of Goodyear shoes, especially where the shank portion of the shoe is to be made thin, it is desirable to provide a wide channel in that portion of the sole, while a narrower channel is preferred about the forepart. Various attempts have been made in the past to meet these requirements, as, for example, by providing supplementary channel knives cooperating to form a wider channel and relatively movable to render a single knife effective for forming a narrow channel, and while such expedients are satisfactory under certain conditions, the small space in which the operating instrumentalities of the machine must be grouped presents serious mechanical difficulties. The solution of the problem which I have discovered presents advantages in simplicity of mechanical construction, accuracy of operation and reliability in use not hitherto available.

With the above-indicated purpose in view, an important feature of my invention consists in the combination of a rounding'knife and a channeling knife arranged to cut in alternate timed relation upon the same zone of the sole, together with means for shifting the channel knife in or out with respect to the edge of the sole, thereby governing the width of the channel. In machines as heretofore constructed, the line of cut of the channel knife has been maintained co'nsistently within the line of out of the rounding or trimming knife and this has been necessary because the two'knives would otherwise interfere in their movements. In accordance with one feature of the present invention, the relative tim ing of the rounding and channeling knives is modified so that they may operate at the same 5 point or at closely adjacent points in the sole. In the machine herein shown, this result is achieved by causing the rounding or trimming knife to complete its operative stroke and withdraw from the sole before the operative stroke of the channeling knife takes place. Such timing of the rounding and channeling knives has not been employed in machines of this class heretofore because the engagement of the sole by the rounding or trimming knife has been relied 15 upon to hold the sole stationary during the operative movement of the channeling knife. This difficulty is overcome in the present case by providing a retaining member or sticker point, arranged to operate on the same side of the work as the trimming knife but independently thereof, and to engage the sole, or the chip trimmed therefrom, when the trimming knife makes its operative stroke but being operated to remain in hold- 7 ing engagement with the material of the sole after the trimming knife has been entirely retracted therefrom. Viewed from this angle, the present invention more specifically comprises the combination with an intermittently acting channel knife, of a trimming knife operated to enter and leave the sole prior to the operative stroke of the channel knife, and a sticker point operated to remain in the sole during the operative stroke of the channel knife.

It will be apparent that with mechanism of this character the channel knife may be caused to enter the sole at a point inside the line of cut of the trimming knife and then subsequently be shifted outwardly with respect to the sole across the line of cut of the trimming knife. According- 40 ly, the sole may be provided in one location, as, for example, in the shank, with an angled channel cut into the sole through its face and at another point, as, for example, in the for'epart, with a fiat channel cut into the sole from its marginal edge. Not only is this mechanism useful for cutting channels of these two different types, as desired, but it is also effective for providing channels of different widths, varying from the full Width of the channel cut by the knife acting wholly within the marginal edge of the sole to the channelformed by the varying length of channel knife blade entering the sole through its marginal edge.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that, in a broad aspect, the present invention consists in a rounding and channeling machine employing a single channel knife organized and adapted to be operated to provide a sole with a channel of varying width in diiferent parts of its periphery or to provide a sole with a flat channel or an angle channel in different parts of its periphery.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood from the following description of an embodiment" thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a view of the machine in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a broken front elevation of the operating instrumentalities of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, partly in horizontal section, through the trimming knife hold- Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the channel knife block assembly;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the parts shown inFig. 2, the channel knife being in its elevated or flat channel position; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a sole which has been partially operated upon by the machine illustrated.

In the drawings, the invention is disclosed as embodied in a rounding and channeling machine having the same general construction as that shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,030,606, above identified. The illustrated machine, in common with the machine of said patent, is provided with a reciprocatory rounding or trimming knife iii, an oscillatory channel knife I2, a feed jaw I4 carrying a cutting block, a crease guide l6 and a forepart guide I8. All of these parts, except the channel knife l2, are constructed, arranged and operated in substantially the same manner as in the machine described in said Letters Patent and reference may be had thereto for details of construction not shown in the accompanying drawings nor forming a part of the present invention.

'zontally-disposed blade which The trimming knife it! comprises a flat, horiis adjustably clamped by means of a clamping screw 23 in a carrier slide 22 arranged to reciprocate in horizontal ways 2%. cated in the proper timed relation by cam-opcrate-d mechanism including an operating arm 26, of which the outer end only is shown in Fig. 1. The trimming knife I 0 outs against an anvil plate !5 of soft metal inserted in the inner face of the feed jaw Hi. This jaw is mounted in the forward end'of a longitudinally-disposed shaft and tapers downwardly. The feed jaw with its shaft is moved forwardly and rearwardly to engage and disengage the work and is also rocked in the direction of feed by mechanism not herein shown.

'The crease guide it is a bail-shaped member supported at either side of the machine by arms 28 pivoted at 3% to swing vertically. The crease guide embraces the feed jaw it with sufficient clearance to permit the required independent feeding movement of the latter. The forepart guide 58 is mounted in the forward end of a lever 32 pivoted upon the frame. Carried by this lever, substantially concentric with its pivotal axis, isa roller 3%, shown in Fig.1. The forepart guide is held yieldingly against the outer face of the feed jaw 34 and is normally inoperative. It may be brought into action by swinging the arm 32 downwardly and in this case the forepart guide is advanced. to or beyond the effective edge of The carrier slide 22 is reciprothe crease guide It. It is shown in this positionin Fig. 5.

The channel knife [2 and the work supporting elements of the machine are mounted at the forward end of a longitudinally-disposed shaft 50 mounted in the machine frame for oscillation and also for reciprocation forwardly and rearwardly. Rigidly secured to the forward end of the shaft ill is an upstanding arm 42, in the outer face of which is formed a guideway. A slide M is movably received in this guideway and upon the upper end of the slide is pivotally mounted a forked tread rest d6, being suspended from pivot screws 68 and adjustably maintained in position upon the slide M by a clamping screw 49 which passes through a slot in one side of the tread rest.

The slide 44 is provided in its upper forward face with a curved guideway in which is received the channel block 50, which for this purpose is provided with curved ribs at its opposite sides. The channel knife block 50 includes a clamping plate 52 and the channel knife I2 is clamped between the body of the block and the clamping plate by means of a clamping screw 54. The

forward or outer face of the channel knife block 25 50 constitutes a work support against which the tread surface of the sole rests during the operation of the machine. The operating end of the channel knife, as herein shown, extends outwardly and then downwardly with respect to the shank and is sharpened for cutting in those portions which form the bottom of the channel and the vertical outer wall thereof. In other words, the sharpened portion of the channel knife is L- shaped. The end of the channel knife projects upwardly above the upper surface of the block 50 and the block is provided with an upwardlyextending projection 56 of reduced cross section,-

which is located closely adjacent to and slightly behind the blade of the channel knife and thus constitutes a support for the sole in an area closely adjacent to the cutting point. It will be understood that the channel knife block 59 is freely movable in the segmental ways of the slide 44 so that it may accommodate itself to the angle at which the sole is presented.

The slide 44 at its lower end is provided with a short link 58 and this, in turn, is connected to the inner end of an arm 6.0 fast to the forward end of a shaft 62 which extends to the back of the machine frame. At its rear end the shaft 62 carries an inwardly and downwardly-projecting arm 64, to which is pivotally secured the lower end of a long link 66. 66 is pivoted to a short arm 68 fixed upon a horizontal shaft 69 journaled in the frame and having also a short upwardly-extending arm 10. An adjustable link 12 extends between the arm 10 and the upper arm 76 of a lever pivoted to oscillate upon a horizontal axis. The arm i6 is formed with a curved slideway, in which is received an adjustable block M to which the link 12 is directedly connected. The lower arm of the lever is provided with a cam slot 18, in which travels a cam roller 19 projecting from the lower arm of a lever 80 secured to a rock shaft 82. The forward and upper arm of the lever 80 is connected through a tension spring to a treadle rod 20. It will be seen, therefore, that when the treadle rod is depressed by the operator, the lever 86 is rocked in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1) and,-

At its upper end the link part guide I8, as the case may be. The rock shaft 82 is provided with a short, downwardlyextending arm 84, to which is pivotally connected a long, forwardly-extending wedge member 86. This wedge member is engaged. by the I No. 1,030,606, above referred to.

For the purpose of holding the sole at rest during a portion of the machine cycle, there is provided a sticker point 99, comprising a short blade having its edge vertically disposed and located adjacent to the right-hand edge of the trimming knife Iii, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The sticker point 93 is adiustably mounted by means of a clamping screw 93 in. a block 92, formed integrally with or rigidly secured to the upper end of an arm 94. At its lower end this arm is secured to the forward end of a shaft 96 which extends rearwardly through the machine frame and carries at its rear end a head I 00. From the head IIlIi a cam roll I02 projects into a groove in a cam lo l fast upon the main shaft of the machine and designed to reciprocate the shaft 96 in the proper timed relation. The arm 94 is provided at an intermediate point with a guide pin 91, which slides in a bore in a boss 98 on the machine frame.

In the normal operation of the machine, the crease guide I6 is effective in determining the height of the shoe presented to the machine relatively to the trimming knife I0 and the channel knife I2 and, as already stated, the channel knife occupiesits lower position in the machine. In positioning the sole, the shafts 40 and 62, together with the channel knife and work-supporting elements, are temporarily moved rearwardly by treadle connections, not herein shown, and it may be assumed that the relation of the parts is such as to form a channel located, as shown in Fig. 6, at the shank of the sole I III that is, the outer wall I I2 of the channel is spaced inwardly from the margin of the sole so that the full width of the channel knife is effective in forming a relatively wide channel. I

When the machine is started, the trimming knife It is at once advanced, cutting against the anvil plate I5, and in this cutting step the feed jaw I4 is moved slightly in to meet the trimming knife. At the same time, the sticker point 90 is advanced until it penetrates the work, as shown in Fig. 1. The trimming knife I0 is thereupon retracted while the sticker point 90 remains holding the sole in cooperation with the feed jaw It. Fig. 1 illustrates the machine at this point in its cycle. When the trimming knife I I! has been retracted, the shaft 49 is rocked in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 2, and the channel knife I 2 is thereby moved toward the right, making one step of the channel cut. The sticker point is now retracted and the work is held stationary momentarily by the channel knife. The feed jaw I4 is then moved outwardly, releasing the sole, and oscillated toward the right to the extreme right-hand limit of its travel. When this point has been reached, the feed jaw is moved inwardly to grip the work again in cooperation with the channel knife and then the two are swung toward the left, advancing the work in the same direction and feeding it into position for a. new trimming cut.

The machine continues to operate in this manner until the ball line of the sole is approached. Thereupon, the operator will depress the treadle rod 29 and elevatethe channel knife from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 5, wherein the shank of the knife coincides with or falls outside the margin of the sole III). In this movement, the channel knife is carried across the line of out of the trimming knife and it will be apparent that the motions of the two must be timed so as to .avoid interference. This, as already explained, may be arranged because of the prompt and full retraction of the trimming knife after it has completed its forward stroke. This is possible, since the sole is held in place by the engagement of the sticker point 90, permitting the channel knife to move into the position which L the trimming knife formerly occupied.

Two different positions of the channel knif I2 with reference to the sole are indicated in Fig. 6. t the right, in the inside shank, the channel knife I2 is shownin its inner or angle-channel position and in this position the shank of the knife is disposed perhaps one-sixteenth of an inch inside the margin of the sole, as determined by the trimming cut of the rounding knife. In approching the shifted outwardly and its shank'passes outside the trimmed margin or the line of cut of the trimming or rounding knife. At the left-hand side of Fig. 6 in the forepart, the channel knife is shown in this outer or flat channel position. In this particular instance, the shank of the channel knife is shown as spaced about one-six teenth of an inch outside the marginal edge of the sole. Theshank, under these circumstances, has no cutting function and the flat channel extends inwardly from the marginal edge of the sole for a width corresponding to the length only of that portion of the channel knife blade which projects inside the line of cut of the trimming knife. It will thus be apparent that I have produced a machine employing a single channel knife operative to form either a wide channel or a narrow channel, an angle channel or a flat channel, in accordance with the preference of the operator or the existing shoemaking requirements.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I. A channeling machine having, in combination sole positioning devices, an intermittently moved channel knife, 2. trimming knife operated to make a complete reciprocation between successive cutting movements of the channel knife, and a sticker point operated independently of the trimming knife and in different timed relation.

2.,A channeling machine having. in combination, sole positioning, devices, a channel knife intermittently advanced to make successive channel cuts in a sole, a trimming knife operated to enter and leave the sole prior to the operative stroke of the channel knife, and a sticker point operated to remain in the sole during the operative stroke of the channel knife.

3. A channeling machine having, in combination, a sole support, a channel knife intermittently advanced to make successive channel cuts in a sole positioned by the support, a trimming knife operated in a path intersecting that of the ball line, the channel knife is channel knife and'tirned to be retracted from the sole when the channel knife iscutting, and a reciprocatory sticker point operated to impale the sole while the channel knife is cutting.

4. A channeling machine having, in combination, sole positioning devices, a channel knife vibrated back and forth to make successive channel cuts in a sole presented thereto, a trimming knife reciprocated in a predetermined path initially at one side of the path of the channel knife, means for shifting the path of the channel knife so that it crosses that of' the trimming knife, and means for operating the trimming knife acting to retract it from the sole while the channel knife is cutting.

5. A channeling machine having, in combination, sole positioning devices, an oscillatory chan- ,nel knife arranged to make successive channel cuts in a sole presented thereto, a trimming knife acting in a path initially outside that of the channel knife, means for bodily moving the channel knife outwardly with respect to the sole without interrupting its oscillations so that its line of out crosses that of the trimming knife and the channel knife extends into the trimmed marginal edge of the sole, and means for operating the trimming knife acting to withdraw it from the sole prior to each operative stroke of the channel knife.

6. A channeling machine having, in combination, sole positioning devices, a channel knife operated to make successive channel outs in a sole presented thereto, a trimming knife reciprocating in a path entering in the same zone of the sole as the channel knife but initially outside the path of the channel knife, means for shifting the path of the channel knife so that its line of out passes across the line of cut of the trimming knife, and a sticker point operating independently of the trimming knife to impale the sole outside said zone of the channel knife cut.

'7. A channeling machine having, in combination, sole positioning devices, an oscillatory channel knife, a trimming knife arranged to reciprocate in a path at right angles to that of the channel knife, and a sticker p'oint mounted to reciprocate in a parallel path at one side of the trimming knife and in a different timed relation in the cycle of the machine.

8. A channeling machine having, in combination, an oscillatory channel knife, sole positioning devices arranged to present the face of a sole to said knife at a point within the margin of the sole, a sole rounding knife arranged to cut in a line outside the path of the channel knife, means for shifting the path of the channel knife so that the knife enters the rounded margin of the sole from a point outside the line of cut of the rounding knife, and means for reciprocating the rounding knife in such timed relation to the channel knife as to avoid interference of the two knives.

9. A rounding and channeling machine having sole positioning devices, trimming means, and channeling means arranged to act upon a sole, and means for shifting the'channeling means between positions inside and outside the trimmed margin of the sole. 1

1 10. A rounding and channeling machine having sole positioning devices, a rounding knife reciprocating in a horizontal path to trim the edge of a sole presented thereto in substantially vertical position, a channeling knife cutting in alternate timed relation with the rounding knife in the same vertical zone in the sole, and means for raising or lowering said channeling knife across the path of the rounding knife.

11. A rounding and channeling machine for operating on attached soles, a knife for trimming the sole, and a channeling knife arranged to be shifted during the operation of the machine across the path of the trimming knife between positions inside and outside the trimmed margin of the sole, to cut a channel of one width in the shank and another width in the forepart of the sole while the latter is being rounded.

12. A rounding and channeling machine for operating on attached soles, a crease guide, an oscillatory channel knife, a trimming knife arranged to reciprocate in a path initially spaced from that of the channel knife and in a different timed relation, and a sticker point arranged to reciprocate in a path parallel to that of the trimming knife and at one side thereof and in a differently timed relation.

13. A machine of the class described having, in combination, sole positioning devices, sole feeding means including a channel knife comprising a shank and blade and being constructed and arranged, in one position, to enter the face of a sole and cut a channel the full width of its blade, and means for shifting said channel knife to a position in which its blade enters the marginal edge of the sole to out a channel of less width than said blade.

14. A machine of the class described having, in combination, sole positioning devices, sole feeding means including a channel knife comprising a shank and a blade, and means to hold the sole while the channel knife makes cutting strokes with its blade entering the marginal edge of the sole or with'its shank entering the flat face of the sole.

15. A machine of the class described having, in combination, sole positioning devices, an L- shaped channel knife arranged to oscillate in a path which may be varied with respect to the sole edge between positions in which the shank of the knife is either outside or inside said edge,

and means for holding the sole against the operative stroke of the knife in all of its paths.

16. A rounding and channeling machine having, in combination, sole positioning devices, an oscillatory channel knife, a flat rounding knife arranged to reciprocate in a path at right angles to the sole, a carrier extending into proximity to said rounding knife, a blade mounted therein and disposed at right angles to the rounding knife, and means for reciprocating said carrier and blade in a different timed relation with respect to the rounding knife.

17. A rounding and channeling machine having, in combination, sole positioning devices, a reciprocatory trimming knife movable in a path at right angles to the sole, an oscillatory channel knife constructed and arranged to move in a path intersecting that of the trimming knife but operated in a differently timed cycle from the trimming knife, and a sticker point arranged to be moved positively independently of the trimming knife and acting upon the sole at a point beyond the path of the channel knife.

18. In a sole-rounding machine, an abutment member movable in engagement with one side of a sole to feed it for trimming, a cutting member operating upon the sole at the opposite side from the abutment member, a retaining member held against movement along the line of feed but movable to press the sole against the abutment member, and means for operating the cutting member and retaining member in difi'erent time-relation.

19. In a sole-rounding machine, an intermittently movable abutment member for engagement by one side of a. sole to be trimmed, a cutting member operating upon the sole at the opposite side from the abutment member, a retaining member movable to press the sole against the abutment member, means for advancing the cutting member to trim the sole and then withdrawing said cutting member, and means for advancing the retaining member to engage and hold the sole during an intermittence of movement of the abutment member and while the cutting member is withdrawn.

20. In a sole-rounding and channeling machine, a movable trimming member, a movable channeling member, means for moving the trimming and channeling members in intersecting paths, a member contacting with the sole to retain it for the cutting action of the channeling member, and means for moving the retaining member to engage the sole While the trimming l0 member is withdrawn therefrom.

JOHN B. HADAWAY. 

